WOOOO HOOOOO. I fixed my KH seat today. I thought I was done for, but I have a seat again. I’m not sure if anyone else has fixed a KH before and still used the original seat cover so I’ll give a brief description of what I went through. First of all the problem was that my seat had come loose on a ride with sofa last weekend and the threads on the bolts wore down to the point where I could no longer tighten the nuts.Plus they were spinning(a normal problem as anyone with a KH knows) I pulled the handle off and had to cut the seatpost bolts off. The rear bumper nuts are locktited on and I couldnt get those off so I left them in the hope that it wouldnt matter. Turns out it didn’t. I then pulled out the staples and gently separated the foam from the seat base. Then the metal stiffener came out in two pieces as that was broke as well. I took the metal brace and carefully traced a pattern on some paper. I got my hands on some sheet metal and traced the pattern on to that. The metal was fairly thick( 1/16" I think, thcker than the original stuff) With a jig saw and some filing I cut out the pattern to size. I drilled out the holes for the bolts and then pounded new carriage bolts through the holes to make the square holes. It was a gamble but worked very well. After the holes were done I bent the metal into shape using a vise and hammer/hands. Then I carefully put the brace and bolts into the seat. It took a little fiddling and I had to enlarge the holes for the handle ever so slightly but it fit. Then the seat cover was wrapped and stapled back into position and all is well. I took it for a quick spin and everything seems in order. I suppose I’ll find out on my first ride. The only concern is if the metal brace will break again. I’m not concerned about the bolts spinning as they are in there very securly. Much better than the originals. Unfortunatly I dont have a camera to document the process. Here’s to time well spent(hopefully)
I just got back from a ride on the trails with my repaired seat and it held up beautifully. There was very little flex and everything held together. I really put it throgh it’s paces starting with a long steep climb with lots of pulling on the handle. The trail starts at the bottom of a ski hill and climbs one of the runs to meet the trails at the top. I did two laps which I guess would be about 10 km or so total. It passed it’s first test handily. I’m entered in a 24 hr race with sofa and checkernuts on the weekend coming up, so with any luck it’ll pass that test too.
Glad to see the ankle’s working again.